You will need:
Connector inspection microscope and adapter for the connector type you are terminating.
Contents
Step 1 - Getting Ready
Step 2 - Examine Connector Construction
Step 3 - Stripping the Cable
Step 4 - Preparing the Epoxy
Step 5 - Applying the Connector to the Fiber
Step 6 - Scribe and polish
Step 8 - Test the Connector
Step 9 - The Quiz
At this point, inspect the polished end of the ferrule with the microscope to see that the epoxy is completely removed and that the tip is smooth and free of scratches. If you are using a Fotec V100, you can inspect the connector two ways for best inspection.
First, look at the tip head on. Lock the connector into the connector stage and slide it T-bar first into position.
Focus the microscope by focusing on the edge of the stage and then move the stage until the tip comes into view. You can hold the other end of the fiber towards a light to couple light into the core as part of the inspection process. From head on at 100 times magnification, it should look like this:
The bright dot in the center is the core of the fiber and the darker annular ring is the claddding. On this connector, notice the dark area to the left of the core, in the cladding. This appears to be a small crack in the fiber that only affects the cladding, not the core, so it is not a problem. If the crack had been in the core, we would not have seen a round dot for the illuminated core.
You should also look at the tip under the microscope at an angle. The angle view was taught to us by the inventor of the AT&T Biconic connector as a way to find scratches that do not show up on a direct view. For angle inspection on the Fotec microscope, pull the connector stage out slightly, rotate the connector seat slightly to hook the end of the stage under the base of the microscope, and push the stage back into place.
The angular view will highlight any surface irregularities better than the head on view. It may look like this:
Now you can see some small amount of epoxy still on the end of the ferrule, which shows up as the dark, uneven ring around the fiber (the ring is caused by the convex PC ferrule.) You can also see the dark area to the left of the fiber, which is the small crack we saw on the straight view. The core shold be nice and smooth, an even gray color, with no big scratches.
If you see large scratches, go back to the 0.3 micron film and use the polishing puck to very lightly give 1 or 2 more figure eights to remove them. The film of epoxy can be removed by polishing on the same film on the rubber polishing pad, which polishes the entire convex PC ferrule.
We are now ready to test the new connector for power loss.
